Insider Provides Insight Into Why Dodgers Free Agent Jack Flaherty Hasn’t Signed

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired starting pitcher Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline, but it wasn’t without competition.

The New York Yankees originally had a preliminary trade agreement lined up for Flaherty, indicating he would end up in pinstripes. However, the Yankees backed out of the deal due to a failed physical.

There was not much more information released pertaining to Flaherty’s medical records, but it was serious enough for the Yankees not to go through with a deal. There was speculation surrounding a lower back issue, but Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris denied any health concerns for Flaherty.

“I can’t comment on medical stuff with trades,” Harris said in July. “You would have to ask the other teams. Jack is healthy. If we didn’t trade him, he was going to start for us on Thursday.”

Flash forward to free agency and Flaherty remains one of the top starting pitchers on the market with only a few weeks until spring training. In a conversation with Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain, ESPN insider Buster Olney questions whether Flaherty’s medical records have stalled his free agency process.

“We know the Yankees flunked him on a physical last year,” Olney said. “They’re not doing that on a whim. … It would be one of the questions I would ask. I wonder how many teams have looked at the medical records. It that a factor? … So I’d be curious to see what teams are seeing in Jack Flaherty’s physical.”

Flaherty isn’t the only notable name remaining on the free agent market. Other pitchers who still need to be signed are Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, and Nick Pivetta, to name a few. The lull this winter is reportedly because of the many trade talks going on between clubs.

“You go into the offseason with a hope of getting off the board quickly and whatnot,” Flaherty said on Foul Territory. “Now we’re sitting here on January 23, with no rumblings, nothing really going on, just waiting. All the other top guys are gone and waited for Sasaki.

“It’s not normal in that I don’t know where I’m going to go play or where I’m going to spring training. Everything else is (normal) but in terms of why, I wish I had a really good answer for you. I don’t know. I wish I had a better answer other than I don’t know what’s making this so difficult.”

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